After coasting through the early months of this year, North Texas preowned home sales jumped 7 percent in June — the biggest year-over-year gain so far in 2014.

Real estate agents sold 9,481 houses last month. That’s the largest single monthly sales total ever, according to data from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.

Median sales prices were 10 percent higher than a year ago, to a record $199,900.

June’s strong housing performance isn’t unexpected and is somewhat overdue, said Mark Dotzour, top economist with the Real Estate Center.

“I’ve been surprised home sales volume hasn’t been higher all year long,” Dotzour said Tuesday. “This is more in line with what I expected to be seeing this year.”

Even with June’s strong activity, year-to-date preowned home sales in North Texas are down 1 percent from the first six months of 2013. Real estate agents blame the tight supply of houses on the market with keeping sales in check.

At the end of June, 22,333 single-family homes were listed for sale with real estate agents — 6 percent fewer than at mid-2013. On average it took only 44 days to sell the houses, which were purchased in June. That’s the shortest average sale time on record in the more than two dozen counties of North Texas.

“The lack of inventory is amazing,” Dotzour said. “The only answer is going to be more new construction. It’s coming, but it’s not coming fast enough.”

Real estate agents say that finding buyers is no problem but that coming up with houses to sell them still takes work.

“This is the peak season in the greatest job economy in the United States,” said Jim Fite, CEO of Century 21 Judge Fite Co. “Multiple offers within 72 hours are commonplace on properties that are priced right and in good condition.”

Fite said that so far the higher home prices haven’t cooled demand. Median sales prices in North Texas in June were 40 percent higher than at the bottom of the recession in early 2008.

“With interest rates still at a very reasonable rate, buyers can afford to pay more for their home,” he said.

Housing analysts anticipate further home price increases in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the second half of 2014.

“Although prices are not moving as fast as in the first half of 2013, appreciation is still well ahead of our long-term average,” said David Brown, who heads the Dallas office of housing consultant Metrostudy Inc.

“Prices jumped in the 10 percent to 12 percent range in 2013 in the market, depending upon which source you look at.